It May Be a New Year, But You’re Still the Same You

And we say that with love. If we’re all being honest with ourselves, a new year can mean new goals, new plans and a renewed sense of purpose, but rarely does it mean that your personality does a complete 180. It’s just not human nature. That’s not to say you shouldn’t strive to become the best version of yourself, but the key word there is yourself! And hey, you’re awesome!

With that being said, you can still wisely use the newness of 2019 to boost your finances and do better than you did in 2018. Even if you did the best you’ve ever done last year, you can set your sights on leveling up this year!

Spring Forward! SeriouslyYou can use the freshness of the new year to propel your finances forward by mentally and emotionally allowing yourself to become excited about what lies ahead. You have 12 new months that you’ve never lived before. That’s 12 chances to reach your goals and get it right!

Take time within the first week of the year to write down a financial goal for each month. January’s goal could be to stick to a certain budget, while February’s goal could be to save a certain amount. The goal for March could be to pay off a particular bill by the end of that month. By writing down your goals, you’ve taken a major step toward manifesting them.

You can use phone apps to remind you of your goals, and to track your spending. This way you can develop a plan for the months ahead.

Take it One Month At A TimeEven though by the time a year reaches December, we all say to our friends “Wow! That year flew by,” the truth is every year has the same amount of days, weeks and months (if you don’t count leap years!). It is up to us to maximize those days, but it is easy to get overwhelmed if you try to plan every detail of the 360 days in front of you–so don’t! Take the year one month at a time, and make a plan for that month keeping your bigger goal in mind.

You may want to save $5,000 by the end of the year. That’s great! However, there are two things you should not do if you want to reach this goal: (1) wait until the last quarter of the year to begin trying to save and (2) ignore making an actual plan altogether. If you’re like most of us, an extra $5,000 will not magically appear in your bank account at the end of the year, and so you need a plan. And there is no better time to start planning than now!

Having a goal per month, doesn’t mean you should not have or ignore a goal for the overall year. So using the examples above, let’s say one of your 2019 goals is to pay off a debt by March. You can use January’s budget, and February’s savings goal to structure your finances to be able to pay off the debt by March. With that debt money now freed up, you can apply it toward your annual goal of $5,000.

A Year Older, A Year Wiser Happy Birthday! Did it pass? Happy Belated! Is not for a while? Happy Early! Either way, we certainly hope you’ll have a birthday this year and that means you’ll be getting another year older, and (hopefully) wiser. Being a wiser you, is a good thing to be, and you’ll definitely want to apply this wisdom toward your finances.

Using your birthday as an inspiration to make better financial decisions can work wonders as well! It can even be more powerful than a new year. So many times friends will say “By 20something, I want X,” or “By 30something I’ll be Y,” and the list goes on. Even if some of those social norms can get a bit overwhelming and become a little toxic, it can still be fun to set financial goals around becoming a year older. You can make a list of things you want to accomplish in honor of your life (i.e. 25 Things to Do Before/While 25). Remember, money is simply a vehicle toward our desires. As an accounting firm, we can tell you that when money for the sake of money is the goal, it often leaves people feeling restless, dissatisfied or even broke! Not having a lifestyle relevant goal attached to your financial goals can cause you to miss the mark time and time again.

So however you plan for the year ahead, have fun with it and honor your goals as a commitment to yourself–the same ol you you’ve always been, just with new goals and new plans!

Need help implementing some of the strategies we’ve mention in this post? We’d be happy to help you with that! Give us a call at 305- 503- 5609 or visit our website www.DesCPA.com to schedule a consultation.

Known for her friendly, outgoing nature and her rare talent for financial foresight, Lydia Desnoyers has been serving individuals and small businesses in Florida since 2010. After earning her Master’s Degree in Accounting from Nova Southeastern University and her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Florida State University, she became a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner.

IRS Circular 230 requires us to notify you that information contained on this website and that any tax advice contained in this communication is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of avoiding any tax penalties that me be imposed by law. Click here for full disclaimer